Zoro in Merryland
by GunslingerBlok
Summary: Trough strange events Zoro wakes up in Merryland, with the quest to find 'the shape of his Voice'. But how does one find something so mysterious? [AU, no pairings yet]


**Zoro in Merryland  
Chapter 1: The clock inside the painting  
By GunslingerBlok**

_Oooh, you guys must hate me for this; starting a new story after not updating Multicolour Words for ages! I know, it's a horrible thing to do, but I just had so much inspiration and ideas for this story, I couldn't help myself; I had to write atleast the first chapter. But don't worry! I haven't forgotten about Multicolour Words and I _will_ finish that story! But for now, enjoy this weird, weird little story._

_As you might've already guessed, it is vaguely based on _Alice in Wonderland_. However, I can't even remember ever reading the book, so it's also very, very different from Alice, lol. I'm just using all my weird ideas in this story, I guess._

_Erhm… No pairings yet. I might add in some pairings later, but I'll have to see about that. Also, this hasn't been beta-read yet. I'm sortof looking for a betareader, since I'm not sure if I can bother Digitaldreamer, who has been betareading Multicolour Words, with this story. I'm sure she has better things to do, lol. So I'm sorry for all the lame mistakes in this chapter! Well, here goes, I guess!_

**Disclaimer**:_ One Piece & Characters is copyright Eiichiro Oda. I guess I should give some credit to Alice in Wonderland too, but must of the weirdness is mine. Except for the Cheshire Cat XD_

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Zoro had always been a good boy. He ate his vegetables, kept his room tidy, and (almost) never fought with his older sister, Kuina. Why something like this had to happen to him, he didn't know. It was a question the poor boy would kept asking himself for the rest of his live. But not with regret or sadness. No, not at all. The things he lived trough after that horrible day were magical, wonderful, things he would never forget. And true, he did lose his loved ones in that fire, but he knew they would always be with him in his heart.

Our story starts the night of the fire. Zoro wished his parents goodnight, gave his sister a soft tick against the back of her head, and went to his room. It was bedtime, and because Zoro was a good boy, he went to bed right on time. Rules were very important to the teen. Though he was already fourteen years old, he never got lost, or stayed out too late. He had been into fights, but that was mostly because other children didn't like the way Zoro looked.

Our young teen has green hair. Green like the grass he walked on everyday when going to school. And it wasn't painted or fake hair. Zoro kinda liked his green hair; it made him unique, it made him different from his _normal_ classmates. But there were some bad things about the green hair. Because he was unique, the other kids liked to pick on him. Apparently he was a good prey, because almost every single day the green haired boy went home with ripped clothes and a bleeding nose. Zoro didn't mind, but he worried his parents and sister with it, so everyday he tried to avoid a fight. He never could, though.

That night, after going to bed right on time once again, Zoro couldn't sleep. There was something wrong, something about to happen, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had a bad feeling in his stomach. However, he decided to ignore it and went to sleep anyway. That was the biggest mistake, or blessing, in his life, and after that day, he would never ignore his feelings again.

When Zoro woke up a couple of hours later, he noticed how hard it was to breath. Everytime he inhaled, he inhaled something that tasted horrible. It made his throat dry and made him cough. He opened his eyes, but closed them again immediately as his eyes started to hurt. Was that… smoke?

The teen carefully opened one eye again, trying to take a look around. There was smoke everywhere, blurring his view. What was going on? Slowly Zoro got out of bed, trying not to hit anything in his way to the door of his bedroom. He tried to hold his breath as long as possible, but felt his lungs needing oxygen desperately. He quickly opened the door to the hallway, hoping there would be fresh air there, but in vain. It was even worse in the hallway! And why was it so hot?

"M-mom?" Zoro coughed. "Dad? Where are you? What's going on?"

"Zoro?" The voice was soft and smothered. With closed eyes Zoro tried to find a way to the door that led to the master bedroom. That's where he thought the voice of his mother came from.

"Zoro, you have to get out of here!" A lot of coughing followed. Was his mother chocking?

"Mom, what's going on? Are you alright? Where's dad?" Zoro tried, but the smoke got into his lungs and he started coughing too. He could hardly breath and felt like his lungs were about to burst.

"Zoro, get Kuina, get Kuina and get out of here, _now_!" That was the voice of his dad. Why did he sound so scared? So devestated? His father was a brave man, he would never be scared, not for anything!

Zoro turned around the corner in the hallway, that would lead to his parents' bedroom. But before he reached the door, he noticed a strange kind of light coming trough the smoke. It wasn't a lamp of some kind, was it? No, it was something different… Perhaps…

Fire.

There was a fire in their house.

And it was blocking the way to his parents.

"Mom, dad, there's a fire!" Zoro yelled.

"Zoro, please, go get your sister and get out!" His mother sounded devestated. Did that mean… she and dad, were they locked inside the bedroom?

"Mom, no, I can't leave you two-" But the smoke was too thick. He couldn't finish his sentence as the smoke penetraded his lungs. Out of fresh oxygen his lungs were about to burst. Zoro collapsed on the floor. The last thing he remember was the scream of his mother.

--- ---

The first thing Zoro felt was pain. His lungs hurt by every breath he took, his throat was soar and he had a horrible headache. He tried opening his eyes, but as soon as the daylight hit, he closed them again. It hurt too much. He had to open his eyes sometime, though. But not right now. Despite the pain, he felt kinda relieved and floaty.

Wait.

Floaty?

Zoro opened his eyes slowly again, let them getting used to the sunlight. When he could open his eyes fully, he took a look around and noticed… he was indeed floating.

He tried to scream, but there was no sound to leave his throat. Not only was he floating, but he was floating _above someone_. He rubbed his eyes, as if it was all a dream, but when he opened them again, he could only see the person he was floating above better. He also noticed the green hair…

He was floating above himself?

In shock Zoro stared at himself, or at least his body. He didn't look so good. His green hair was a green as ever, but his skin had turned a greyish colour. His eyes were closed and there were tubed and wires sticking out of his body. That probably meant he was in a hospital. But what was he doing there? What had happened?

Then Zoro noticed the silver wire that was sticking out of his chest. He never had that before, had he? It was weird he couldn't even say that for sure, but his brain felt like pudding. What on earth was going on and why did that wire lead to his… well… what was he on the moment anyway?

Spirit maybe? A ghost? Probably a spirit. Or a soul. Argg! Zoro shook his head in confusion, but stopped it immediately when a tearing pain cut trough his chest, right where the silver wire, that went from the chest of his body to the spirit form he was now, went in his chest, right where his heart is. They were still connected?

"Yessss, you still are connected. But not for long…"

Zoro looked around. Where did that voice come from?

"Don't try to look for me, young one. I am only to be seen by those who can remember me."

"H-how is that possible?" Zoro asked. His voice was soar and soft.

"It is and it isn't. But that does not matter. At least, not for now." It was a creepy voice, a voice you would give to a snake, were it that snakes could talk. "You don't remember what happened, do you, young one?"

"No, I-I don't." Zoro said, still looking around. How is it possible to see something that you remember, if you've never seen it before?

"Doessssn't matter, doesssn't matter at all. In fact, this only makes it a little more fun, hihi." The voice giggled. "Don't worry, young one, I'll help you to free yourself from that aweful ssssilver wire."

"W-wait, don't! Isn't that the only thing that keeps me connected to my body?" Zoro panicked.

"It isss, indeed it isss…" The voice giggled again and sounded like it faded out. Then there was a sound, a snap, like scissors going trough a wire and an incredible pain went trough Zoro's body. He felt like his heart was on fire, like someone was ripping him apart, quartering him. Then everything went black again, and even the pain went away.

--- ---

He was awake, wasn't he? Had he been awake all this time, or did he just woke up? And where was he anyway?

Zoro opened his eyes again, and felt a heavy presure on his chest, like someone sitting on him. He stared at the ceiling above him. He felt like he was in a daze, but could still feel and see everything clearly. He closed his eyes again for a minute, then opened them and notice the ceiling had changed. Before he had closed his eyes, the ceiling had been checkered, green and white. Now it had stripes, red and white striped. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again and saw the ceiling had changed back to it's checkered form, though it was checkered red and white this time.

"Are you getting up, or what?" A dark, female voice said. "I can't imagine the floor being so comfortable."

"W-who said that?" The voice had made Zoro jump up and now standing he felt dizzy, but he closed his eyes once again and managed to stay standing.

"Oh, don't worry, kid." The voice said. "I'm not here to hurt you. Even if I was, I won't be able to do much, hohoho!" The voice sounded so cold and sad, but the laugh was warm and inviting. "Turn around, boy, and let me see your face."

As quick as possible, Zoro turned around, making him almost lose his balance and fall down. In front of him, on a black and white checkered wall, a painting of a beautiful young girl was hanging. Her shining blonde hair was draped over her shoulders, only holding them back a little by a black headband. She was dressed in a light blue and white coloured dress with white stockings and shining leather shoes. She had a warm smile.

The girl looked so sweet and peaceful, a total contrary with the background, which was black. In the black, dark purple coloured shadows crawled up, ready to grab the young girl and strangle her at will. But they didn't. Of course not, as it was a painting he was looking at. And paintings didn't move.

"Ooh, you're a handsome one, aren't you?" The voice sounded, followed by a giggle. "Don't look so surprised, love. You might wonder where this voice is coming from. Well, I'm the voice that is hidden in your heart. But you released me, or… No, it was the Wheel that released me, wasn't it… Well, it doesn't matter anyway, since I'm free now!" Another high-pitched giggle followed.

"What do you mean, voice in my heart?" Zoro asked.

"Do you know that soft voice in the back of your head, that tells you _not_ to start a fight, dear?" The voice asked. "That's me. You never listen to me, though. That's probably why you've got so much muscles. You've been fighting a lot, haven't you, dear?"

"I… I guess I have, yes." Zoro muttered. "But it wasn't my fault! _They_ always started it!"

"Oh, I know, kid. I know, because I've always been with you." The voice answered. "But before we get off the subject, let me ask you one thing, dear. Do you remember the shape of your Voice?"

"The shape of my voice?" This confused Zoro. "Voices don't have a shape, they're sound!"

"Oh no, dear." The voice giggled. "I meant voice with a capital V. The shape of your Voice!"

"Voice is never written with a capital V unless it's the first word of a sentence!" The boy stubborly said.

"_And_ when it's a name, isn't that correct?"

"Hey!" Zoro turned around, glaring around in the dark that was surrounding him. "Don't be smart with me you… you voice!"

"Hohoho, is that the best you can come up with?" The voice laughed. "You indeed are an interesting kid. I understand why the Wheel decided to take you…"

"What is this wheel you keep talking about? What's so interesting about a wheel?" Zoro yelled. This was getting frustrating.

"I'm not talking about any ordinary wheel, young one. I'm talking about wheel with a capital W. I'm talking about the Wheel." The voice said. "But that is irrelivent at this moment. Do you remember the painting I just showed you?"

"Of course, it's right th-" But as Zoro turned around to point out the painting, he saw the wall where the painting was once hanging had turned into a long, endless hallway. And instead of just one painting, there were hunderds, perhaps even thousands of paintings hanging in that hallway. And they were all the same painting, with the young smiling girl on it. "What's going on?" Zoro asked.

"It's time for you to choose your path, dear." The voice said. "Choose the right path and you will find the shape of your Voice. But be carefull, as you can lose that shape forever if you choose the wrong path."

"How do I know what's the right path?" Zoro asked.

"Follow your heart, dear. I'll have to leave you now, but soon you will meet a Son of mine. Treat him with respect and he might help you find that shape." The voice said. "We will meet again, at the end of the Wheel." Then it went silence.

"W-wait, miss voice, come back!" Zoro yelled. "But… a wheel has no begin, or an ending… does it?" But when it stayed silent around him, he knew he had to go 'pick his path', whatever that meant. He walked into the hallway, passing all the paintings left and right of him.

They all looked the same. In fact, they were the same! On every painting the girl smiled her sweetest smile at him, and at every painting she was being swallowed by the darkness surrounding her. But if all the paintings were the same, how would he know which one to choose?

If he even had to choose one. Perhaps he just needed to walk all the way to the end of the hallway. But as he looked past all the paintings, he saw there was no ending to the hallway. It just kept on going and going and going. Zoro sighed deeply and continued walking. There had to be one painting that was different… But which one?

After walking up and down the hallway for several minutes, though it could've been hours, Zoro noticed one particulair painting. It was no different from the other paintings, nor was it larger or smaller. It was the same as all the paintings he had passed untill now.

"Well, I've gotta start somewhere, right?" He took a deep breath and reached out for the painting. And as soon as he touched it, the surface of the painting started to flow, waves were forming. And slowly a clock surfaced from the painting's linen. It was a big clock, covering almost the entire painting and when the linen stopped flowing, the clock was completely surfaced.

It was a beautifull large clock, made of silver with golden hands and golden numbers. It looked like a pocketwatch, because there was a silver chain attached to it, but it was far too large to fit in somebody's pocket.

The hands of the clock weren't moving, but the sound of a clock ticking was still there. Zoro wanted to take a closer look, but the clock was hanging too high for him. So he reached out for the edge of the clock, grabbed ahold of it and tried to pull himself up to where he could sit on that edge.

After a couple of tries and a lot of struggling, Zoro managed to get himself on to that edge. But when standing there, the feeling of him shrinking was overwhelming him. If the clock had been about his height before he pulled himself up, it would've been atleast ten times as big now! His entire arm was about the same length as the top of the longest arm of the clock!

Zoro looked down from the edge, but the floor he had once been standing on had disappeared. Instead there was now a black hole, with no beginning or ending. The boy swallowed. He really hoped this was a dream…

He looked up again and noticed the longest hand of the clock being very near him. He walked to it and gave it a soft tick. The sound of bronze churchbells rang trough the emptiness surrounding him. It was a beautiful sound, making you feel relieved and free. But the sound soon stopped and was replaced by the sound of a clock ticking again, only ten times louder than before. The hands started moving!

The longest hand went clockwise, but the smaller hand went just the other way around! Going in eachother's contrary direction, the hands passed eachother multiple times, before they stopped again. They both pointed out the large Twelve, written on the far top of the clock. And then the bronze churchbells rang again, ringing time after time untill they reached the twelve. Then it went silent again, and for just a moment, it seemed as if nothing happened.

But after a few seconds, the clock started to disappear, like it was fading very slowly. Zoro could feel his feet sink into the once solid silver of the clock, sinking deeper and deeper untill he went trough the entire clock. He tried to grab hold of anything, anything around him, but the clock was the only thing left in that empty world, and even the clock was fading now!

When he couldn't grab onto anything, Zoro felt himself falling, further and further down into the black. It seemed as if there was no end to the fall, as he kept falling for minutes, hours, perhaps even days. He felt himself getting thirsty, hungry, but there was nothing he could do about it. Then, it stopped, and for the third time, everything went black.

--- ---

Voices softly reached his head when Zoro started to regain his conciousness. He didn't feel pain this time, so that was a relief. And he had landed on something soft. Something very soft, so soft he felt like laying there forever. He had no reason to get up, right?

"Hey, get up!" The voice of a man, no, a boy said. He felt someone tugging his shoulder. Zoro slowly opened his eyes and got blinded by sunlight once again.

"Is he awake?"

"Wow, I really thought he was dead, hihi!"

"He's pretty cute too…"

"Oh hush, you can't have this one! He's all mine!"

"Look at his pretty hair, it's soo green!"

"Like ours, hihi!"

"S-shut up!" Zoro mumbled, opening his eyes again when they were used to the sunlight. "Don't talk so loud…"

"Who's walking?" The voice of the boy said. "Hey, are you okay?"

Bend over Zoro was a young boy. He had a slightly tanned skin, a lot of curly hair and a long, very long nose. He looked at Zoro with a worried look in his eyes, but when he noticed Zoro was in fact not dead, he stood upright again and grinned.

"Good, I knew you weren't dead!" The boy said. "I'm the great master Usopp! I found you laying here in my domain and I demand an explenation!"

"I'm Zoro, and I have no idea how I ended up… here." With a little struggle, Zoro managed to get on his feet and turned around to see what it was he landed on.

Apperantly, he landed on flowers, beautifull flowers in all kinds of shapes and colours. He kinda felt sorry for them, but they were just flowers anyway.

"Just flowers? Did you hear that, girls! Apperantly, we're _just flowers_!"

"Oh, Delphina, hush, he's just a boy, and from a different world too!"

"Still, he has no right to call us _just flowers_."

"W-who's saying that?" Zoro turned around to the young boy, Usopp was his name, but he just stared at Zoro with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay? Because…" Usopp said. "Nobody's talking here, pal."

"Hihi, that poor marksman still can't hear us!"

"He must be so confused by now."

"Just like the green haired boy, hihi!"

"D-don't you hear the voices? They're talking about you!" Zoro said.

"Erhm… In general, it's not really a healthy sign when somebody is hearing voices." Usopp mumbled, scanning Zoro like he was looking for injuries. "Not even here…"

"Where is _here_ anyway?" Zoro asked, glaring around searching for something, anything that could've spoken. But he and this Usopp guy were the only ones around here.

"You, my young friend, are in the Woods of Rapture, which is also my domain." Usopp grinned widely. "In these woods you will find the greatest monsters, ready to tear you apart, or even eat you alive! But do not fear, for Usopp the Great is here, and I will protect you with my life!"

"Ohmy, here he's going again…"

"That stupid boy, why does he always have to tell lies?"

"Exactly, there are no monsters here, just flowers, beautiful flowers."

"Are you sure there… are monsters here?" Zoro asked carefully, looking at a particulair large red rose. Did he just see a mouth on that rose?

"Of course there are! Why would you doubt me, the great Warrior Usopp, who has already killed hunderds of monsters all by himself, and has at least a thousand followers! Together we have fought and defeated over a million monsters!"

"Then where are your followers now…?" Zoro looked at Usopp from the corner of his eyes. This kid was lying, no doubt.

"Ehh, taking a vacation. All of them. At the same time." Usopp stuttered. "But brave as I am, I decided to stay here and protect the travelers coming trough this deadly forest!"

"Poor boy, he's gone mad this time."

"There hasn't been a traveler in these woods for ages."

"Yes, the marksman has been here alone for over a hundred years now…"

"I feel kind of sorry for him. Especially since he can't hear our voices!"

"But the green haired kid can… is he the one chosen by the Wheel?"

"Probably…"

"Can you tell me what the Wheel is?" Zoro asked suddenly, interrupting Usopp, who had been telling all about that one time he defeated the Gigantic Monster Worm with only a mere stick.

"The Wheel? You don't know what the Wheel is?" The curly haired boy said surprised. "But everybody in Merryland knows what the Wheel is!"

"Merryland? Is that the place where we are?" Zoro asked. "I mean, where these Woods of Rapture also lie?"

"Indeed, indeed it is! Merryland is the most wonderfull place of all places!" Usopp said. "And the Wheel is the one making everything in Merryland happen. The Wheel is also called the God of All that is Happening, but that's just too long of a name, so they named him the Wheel."

"Why the Wheel? I mean, it's a person, right?" The green haired boy asked.

"Yes and no. Actually, nobody knows what the Wheel looks like. Nobody even knows if it really is a Wheel. But the Wheel is the one that is making Merryland move, so we are grateful to the Wheel." Usopp said. "There isn't much known about the Wheel, except that it works in mysterious ways."

"So the Wheel is like the sun and the moon and gravity and God and all in one?" Zoro asked confused. "That's pretty awesome."

"I have no idea what a Zun or a Moen is, but yeah, sure, why not!" Usopp laughed. "You really are a weird one! I guess that's why the Wheel chose you."

"Why is everyone saying the Wheel chose me?" Zoro asked. "I've never seen a Wheel or whatever! One moment I'm floating above my own body, the other moment I'm hearing bronze bells and choosing paintings and what not! This is so confusing!"

"Wait, you don't remember anything before floating above your body…?" Usopp asked.

"Nothing. I only know my name." Zoro sighed. "A voice told me I should look for the shape of my Voice. Do you know anything about that, Usopp?"

"The shape of your Voice?" It took the marksman a minute to think about it, before he shook his head. "Never heard of it, but you might want to ask the Queen. The Queen knows everything about Merryland."

"And where can I find this queen?" Zoro asked.

"Oh no no no! One does not find the Queen, the Queen will find the one!" Usopp quickly said. "But you must be carefull, for the Queen is a very, very grumpy woman. She has the power to dehead you when she wants to and believe me, she will!"

"She sounds like an aweful person." Zoro said. "Is she the Queen of Merryland?"

"Oh no, there is no Queen that rules over Merryland. She's just the Queen of the Checkered Fields. They lie just beyond these Woods."

"So I should just go trough these woods and find the queen, right?" Zoro said. "Piece of cake!"

"Ohmy, he has a LOT of convidence, this one!"

"Just go trough these woods, he said! Hihi, he has humor too."

"Even the marksman hasn't found a way out of these Woods since he entered them over a hunderd years ago."

"But the green haired one, he _is_ chosen by the Wheel, isn't he?"

"So you're saying we should help him?"

"Perhaps we should, but we'll see how things go first, oke?"

"Fine with me…"

"Hey, Zoro, are you listening?" Usopp's voice slowly reached Zoro's ears.

"W-what?" he mumbled.

"If you want to get out of these Woods, you have to go East." Usopp said. "That's all I know."

"So where's east?" The green haired boy asked.

"I have no idea." Usopp grinned. "I've been stuck here for a while too."

"I've heard." Zoro muttered. "Over a hunderd years, eh?"

"H-hey, how did you know that?" Usopp asked indignant.

"I just did." Zoro answered simply. "So… I guess I'll be searching for the east now."

"And I'll be going with you!" Usopp exclaimed. "I've been stuck in this forest for long enough."

"Let's go then."

And so the two boys, who quickly became friends, decided to travel trough the Woods of Rapture in search of the Checkered Fields. There Zoro hoped he would find the Queen, so she could tell him where he could find the shape of his Voice. But will he ever even reach the end of the Woods?

--- ---

_Well, that was weird, lol! I never expected I would write something like this, but okay. So, what did you guys think? Should I continue this story, or should I just delete it and continue with Multicolour Words. Or update them both, of course._

_Btw, I made a small One Piece forum that is in need of some members. So if you're interested in joining, visit **1ntoxication dot net slash dawn**. It's still small, but I hope it'll grow in a nice community someday._

_Anyway, like I said at the beginning of this story; It hasn't been betaread. Plus it's a bit shorter than my usual chapters (most are around 5500 words, this one is about 4500 words). I still hope you enjoyed it, and please leave me a review!_


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